Writing Journal 9: Novella DONE, Scrivener, And An On-Site

Fiction and nonfiction: the novella is DONE!

DONE… Just 1,600 words — I added an epilogue. And the third novella is done. Now some revision, and editing, and it’s off to the client.

I didn’t have time to create a MOBI file, that’s for tomorrow, when I’ll be starting the fourth novella in the series of five. I need to wrap up this series quickly. I’ve got a few more fiction commissions to fulfill, and then I can focus on my own fiction.

Before I started on the final scene, I had an idea for the book’s cover. The designer sent the PSD file, along with the cover, so it’s a simple matter to add the extra text to the cover. I send the client the image of the amended cover.

Tip: if you’re working with a cover designer: get the Photoshop (PSD) file. Then you can make any changes you like.

Next, nonfiction. The book’s humming along. Another 1200 words, with lots of “XXX” areas, as placeholders for research.

I’ll be out most of today, working on-site with a client. So, I need to get the email backlog out of the way next.

Scrivener questions: is it “worth it?”

I’ve mentioned Scrivener, and received a couple of messages asking whether Scrivener is “worth it”.

I’m a huge Scrivener fan. I started using Scrivener in around 2006, with the beta versions.

In 2005, I switched from Windows to Mac, even thought I was still contributing to PC magazines. I dithered for months, worrying about this decision. Could I still write for PC magazines when I became a “Mac person”? (Snicker. All the dithering I did back them seems silly now.)

My intuition kept prodding me to make the switch, so finally I did, and it was the best decision I’ve ever made. Mac programs like RapidWeaver, Curio and Scrivener made me not only more productive, but more creative too.

They’ve also made writing a joy, and I don’t say this lightly. So I make no apologies for being a Scrivener enthusiast. :-)

YES, Scrivener is worth it — a thousand times over. It takes time to learn, but not long, considering how powerful the program is. Once you understand the basics, which won’t take you longer than it takes to go through the Tutorial, you know enough to write with Scrivener. You’ll make many happy discoveries along your journey.

Join the Scrivener Community on Google+. Post any questions you have, the members are kind and generous, and only too pleased to help new Scrivener users.

One of the biggest benefits of Scrivener for me is that you can keep multiple books in a single Scrivener file. All the novellas for this client are in a single Scrivener file, for example.

Last year, I wrote three full-length mysteries for a client; they’re all in one file. This means that you can easily refer to other books as you write, to make sure you keep the characters straight. You can create front and back matter templates, and use them for each book.

And of course, if you want to edit a title at any time — to change the links to the other books in a series in the back matter, for example, you can do it simply. Make the changes, and compile to create a new MOBI or EPUB file, and upload it to Amazon, or wherever.

I hate searching for things and I can only imagine the chaos if I were to attempt to write a series of books for a client — or for myself — and had to keep everything organized without Scrivener.

Breakfast for Honey.

Then work on a couple of small copywriting projects for clients. One is a tagline. I write a list of questions to answer, so that I can start on the research.

The other copywriting project is a sales page, so I create an initial cluster diagram for that.

Breakfast for me, then I’m off to the on-site.

Late afternoon…

I’m back in the office. The on-site work was busy and fun, but we had a late meeting. Afterward, I had some errands to run, so I’m back late.

All the work I’d hoped to do this afternoon needs to be rescheduled. I make notes for Julia, so that she can do that.

A final pass to catch up with email, then it’s time for the daily review, and a look at my word counts.

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Author: Angela Booth

Copywriter Angela Booth's clients tell her she performs "word magic." Whether she's writing advertising materials, Web content, or ghostwriting for her clients, she's committed to helping them to achieve results, fast.
Author of one of the first books about online business, Making The Internet Work For Your Business, Angela's written many business books which have been published by major publishers. She's an enthusiastic self-publisher and writing teacher.
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